"Right now, there is a great danger to the Combine, and all true samurai must come to his aid." Michi paused briefly, looking up at the stars. "I may be ronin,in the sense that I have no master, but I am still a loyal servant of the Dragon. When the Dragon is in need, I will stand to its defense. I must put aside my quest for vengeance until the realm is safe. When that day comes, I will kill Takashi Kurita with my own hand."

Dechan sat quietly through Michi's speech, trying to understand the complicated hierarchy of loyalties that ruled his friend. Though Dechan never wished to be tangled in as intricate a web of allegiances as bound a Kuritan, he had his own strong feelings about loyalties. In Wolf's Dragoons, it was much simpler. A man stood by his friends. "After all we've been through, you expect us to let you walk into the Dragon's den alone? Who's gonna watch your back?"

"I cannot ask it of you. The matter has become more complicated. Prince Theodore had informed me that the Coordinator was never scheduled to visit this planet. Therefore, the papers allegedly detailing his itinerary never existed. I believe that whoever was behind our now-deceased informant deliberately directed us at the Prince. Perhaps that person knew my true identity and expected me to kill any Kurita on sight. Perhaps not. Either way, the villain knew my target was the Coordinator.

"This is not your cause."

"It wasn't my cause on Milligan's World either," Dechan insisted. "I told you I'd see this through. You're not rid of me so easily."

"Or me, either," Jenette affirmed. Dechan showed his lady the pride he felt with a smile. She slipped her hand into his and gave it a squeeze. "We can look after ourselves."

"You honor me beyond my due, my friends," Michi replied as he bowed.

Dechan felt awkward; formality never sat well with him. To cover himself, he turned to Travers. "What about you, Vic?"

Michi and Jenette turned expectant faces to their fourth companion. Travers swallowed, rubbing his hands nervously along the tops of his thighs. The bristly black hair on his arms stood out starkly against his pallid skin as he added to the accumulated grease on his coveralls. "It's not what I signed on for."

"I understand," Michi said, face expressionless. Dechan, however, frowned, and Jenette's look of disappointment seemed a mirror to his own. Awkward silence fell over the group, and they returned to their supper.

When Michi tossed his empty plate into the cook-pot and rose, Travers stood as well. He seemed troubled, embarrassed.

"Ah ... before you leave," Travers said, fishing a crumpled paper from his pocket. A small, enameled lapel pin speared the folded sheets together. "I have a name and a letter. It'll help."

"Yakuza?"

Travers nodded.

Michi held up his hand in refusal. "I have my own connections."

"Not with this gang. You'll need these," Travers insisted, thrusting the gift forward.

Dechan didn't believe that. Travers' contacts with the criminal underworld had been useful in the past, but now Michi was dealing with politics. Besides, Dechan had never liked dealing with that kind of people. He always came away feeling soiled.

Michi gave a sharp nod of sudden agreement and accepted the offered letter. "Domo arigato."

Unity! Dechan thought. What's gotten into this boy?

"I have a gift for you as well," Michi told Travers, pointing to the bright green Marauder."Please take it. I will not be able to use it where I am going."

"I couldn't," Travers protested, shaking his head. His stubble-bearded face was awash in confusion. "That's the Bounty Hunter's 'Mech, and you're the Bounty Hunter."

"No longer. I have worn the armor while it served me. It allowed me to safely reenter the Combine. Where I am going, the identity will be more of a hindrance," Michi said. He picked up the helmet and held it out to Travers. "You are the Bounty Hunter now."

"Take the 'Mech. Cellini can handle the Orion.I leave you the DropShip, the armor, and half of the war chest. I will need some of the money we have collected." Michi popped open a compartment on the side of the breastplate he wore. From its darkness, he removed a battered book. The solidograph on the volume's cover was scratched and scuffed. Papers, many stained and yellowed with age, and plastisheets of various colors jutted from the open sides, held in by a cord the color of dried blood. He tossed the packet to Travers. "The tradition is yours as well."

Travers caught the book and held it to his head as he bowed deeply to Michi, surprising Dechan with this show of etiquette.

Michi turned to Dechan and Jenette. "If you still wish to accompany me, we must leave within the hour."

41

Kanrei's Residence, Deber City, Benjamin

Benjamin Military District, Draconis Combine

15 January 3031

"Then you won't come along," Theodore said, hoping to end the fruitless discussion.

"Iie.I've told you too many times that I think this plan is foolish," Ninyu snapped. "The Combine doesn't need criminals in its army. Besides, I don't trust this adventurer, and you shouldn't, either."

Michi, leaning in the corner he had appropriated upon entering the room, stood silent under Ninyu's accusation.

"He was a loyal retainer of my brother," Fuhito objected, stepping in to defend the silent man.

Theodore let Fuhito speak. Perhaps his words would succeed where Theodore's had failed, persuading Ninyu to accept Michi as the newest addition to his inner circle, those he called his shitenno.

In ancient Japanese history, that name had been applied to the loyal companions of Kiso Yoshinaka, the husband of another Tomoe. Yoshinaka's wife had been the celebrated Tomoe Gozen, a female samurai like his own Tomoe. Giving his companions the same name as Yoshinaka's seemed apt. Theodore also had it on good authority that his use of the term bothered his father, who remembered the fate of Yoshinaka. Theodore, of course, had no intention of ending up the same way.

Ninyu dismissed Fuhito's argument with a slash of his hand. "This fellow served your brother a long time ago. Noketsuna went rogue after Misery. He's a renegade who consorts with other renegades. He cannot be trusted."

"If, by renegades, you refer to Fraser and Rand, you are mistaken, Nmyu-kun,"Tomoe said. "They voluntarily left Wolf's Dragoons to join Michi -sanin seeking vengeance for Minobu Tetsuhara. Their loyalty to him has been exemplary."

"Hai!"Fuhito agreed forcefully.

Ninyu snorted his disgust as he turned to Theodore. "If you wish to be surrounded by the naive," he said, shrugging his shoulders to indicate that he refused to take responsibility for the results. "At least, don't give them any power. Keep them as advisors if you must, but don't follow them blindly. Abandon this renegade's plan to recruit soldiers from the yakuza. The yakuza are criminals, worthless scum who stand apart from our ordered society. They are untrustworthy. The Combine doesn't need soldiers who would disgrace their uniforms. If you need warriors, look to our ordinary citizens. When their belief in the Dragon is strong, they are more than good enough. If you think they are insufficiently capable, and that the Combine still needs manpower, draft ISF civilian agents. Their loyalty is beyond question."